O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Rating:
Summary: A Comedy For Those With "The Capacity For Abstract Thought"
Review: Joel and Ethan Cohen have taken us into the inner depths of Americana. From the Cold recesses in the Midwest in "Fargo," the bland suburbs of LA in "The Big Lebowski" and the solitude of the deserts in "Raising Arizona". Now The Coens have taken us into the heart of the Deep South in the 1930's in an imaginative and surrealistic telling of one of the original novels in the history of writing.

Obviously it took the Coens a while to properly concieve Homer's "Odyssey" not only in a different setting but as a comedy which boasts a surprisingly piquant wit. Well they've managed to do it in an almost seamless manner. As you can see the Coens wasted no time in setting the scene. Opening with sweeping crane, and still shots of a chain gang singing their haunting melody. Then soon we jump to a montage of our heroes Ulysses Everett McGill, Pete Hogswallop, and Delmar O'Donnell, making a discreet yet clumsy escape from "The Farm" while incorporated with richly authentic, old-timey music. It shows us that these three men obviously have a long difficult path to follow. Then post-credits we are immediately supplied with a hilarious physical gag right out of the gate. Then soon we finally get the taste of the trio's personalities. spontaneously you see that Everett is a proud man who attempts to be intellectually inclined. Then you have Pete, who's highly rough-around-the-edges. The there's the clueless but good-hearted Delmar. Immediately they set up the characters likeability within the first five minutes with the sparkling dialogue. Which has become a staple in the Coen Brothers' illustrious careers.

Aside from the films delightful surprises you get to see some of our favorite actors, new and old, playing charaters that go beyond unique. Probably the one most worth mentioning is George Clooney as Everett. The casting job couldn't have been more perfect(Clooney now has a Golden Globe to prove it). As you watch him boast and brag you see the constant look that states that he's so sure that he is right all the time. When in reality the opposite is the truth. Next there's John Tuturro as Pete. His stance and his gruff tone display his harsh, rough upbrining. Which explains his tendency to lash out. finally there's Tim Blake Nelson (Director of "O") and his performance as Delmar. Nelson's performance is dead-on target. even when he's handing George "babyface" Nelson his Tommy Gun, he still asks what George's profession is after George opens fire on the police giving chase then on helpless livestock. And you can see the childlike innocence on his face when he whimpers "Oh, George, Not the Livestock."

And even the otherwordly characters from the basis novel. make unique and symbolic appearances from the blind wandering prophet, the Cyclops (played to perfection by Coens Alumi John Goodman.), plus the standout scene of the three sirens singing seducing and sedating our three heroes. "Those Sirens loved him up and turned him into a... Horny Toad!"

You gotta love the utter creativity and originality that was put into this film. I won't go around saying that everyone will enjoy this film because it's a confirmed fact that The Coen Brother's films are an aquired taste. Only the intellectually inclined will find this film to be a hilarious romp. But if you have an open mind, don't hesitate to give it a try.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: O Brother, Where Art Thou was a fantastically done movie. The cinamatograpy was spectacular! Although Hollywood seems to be stuck in a rut of remaking old classics, they sure hit a gold mine with this one! I can't wait to buy this film!

Rating:
Summary: The Coen Brothers: long may they wave!
Review: I haven't seen many films in recent memory that I am so impressed by as the one I just watched this evening. "O Brother, Where Art Thou" is brilliant, not a word I use in reference to many American films. Truly, the Coen Brothers are cinematic geniuses I now acknowledge! "Fargo" was excellent, but not great as this one is. I didn't see all five nominated films for Best Picture this year, but I cannot believe that ANY one was superior to this one. Granted, the Coens were not marketing the film to the usual 14-year-old money-making mentality of most of the recent blockbuster American films, but in its comedic brilliance, the Brothers skirt thither and yon with articulation rarely seen; they combine the best nuances of the Foreign Film with the power that American films can (but usually don't) produce. The clever literary allusions crocheted tantalizingly with Southern Depression lore was excruciatingly
"to the point," and with refreshing originality (another rarity in Hollywood)! And George Clooney--who'd have thought he could pull off such a role (one tends to remember him as that doctor on that tv program) deserved his honors, and, again, I cannot believe whoever it was who won the Oscar did a better job of acting. (Yes, Mr. Crowe, I mean it!) Yes, the box office won again, which is the downside of American movie awards, it seems.
Clooney's two sidekicks hold their own, easily--actually, they do more than that: they keep Clooney aloft! Charles Durning, John Goodman, and Holly Hunter merely gild the lily. Homer, indeed, is impressed, spinning in his grave, as he must be, to see "The Odyssey" in such a new, and invigorating, light. With all the bravado and the zany activities, the Coens squeeze in, sometimes subtly, sometimes not, more than a few lessons in social significance, yet without preaching. One doesn't have to be well-versed in this period of American history (although it must help to recognize the allusions!) to appreciate the film. Tomorrow I'm even buying the sound track, so remarkable it is.

I've long been a critic of American films, as I've felt most were not worth watching, intellectually. This one is. ([e-mail])

Rating:
Summary: Clooney's Best
Review: I think this was George Clooney's best ...he was GREAT! My entire family as well as friends watched the movie and the next day went out and bought the sound track and have been playing it almost constantly. good entertainment...THANKS GEORGE!

Rating:
Summary: booorrrrring
Review: I love movies. I'm the person who comes out of the movie that's left everyone else gagging and says "what? I kind of enjoyed it." This bored me.

Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: Being from the South, I was not in the least bit offended by the actions and speech in this movie. Actually, I would almost swear that I recognized some of the characters as being people here in town! Even though some people in other areas of the country may view the "slang" "countrified" speech as ignorance -- and maybe some of it is -- the movie characters portrayed in a hilarious fashion a way of life many years ago, and captured very well the naivete and unique speech of the South. Ignorant -- no. Simple -- yes. The music is also outstanding.

Rating:
Summary: Thrilling Southern Madness
Review: I am in love with this film.

I will admit, this is very different from other Coen films and it may be an acquired taste, but from the moment I turned it on I was hooked. George Clooney is amazing. He has a fantastic on-screen chemistry with every actor. You can enjoy this without ever knowing the story of the Odessey, but I would recommend at least reading the cliff notes for it. Knowing the Odessey makes the movie much more fun to watch. The acting is wonderful, the story is classic, the writing is spectacular and the music is beautiful. You must watch this film.

Rating:
Summary: A strange ride...
Review: I had a strange experience with this movie. I really disliked it after I saw it, I mean really really disliked it. But over the next few days I continued to think about it and remember funny parts of it. And the music was outstanding. All together, I think I'm glad I saw it. But I'd definitely try to watch it first before buying to make sure it is to your taste.

Rating:
Summary: A funny thing happened on the way to the.......
Review: I found great joy in cheering for these three lost souls. The theater needs more movies like this one. The refreshing and surprising comic genius of George Clooney and the other Coehn brothers reminded me of the "Beverly Hillbillies" and "Lucy & Ethel" meet the "The Marx Brothers". I highly recommend you suspend your disbelief and enjoy this at times, "Gumpish" storyline. It is worth the time you invest in the viewing. The movie is fun for the whole family over the age of 7. See it.

Rating:
Summary: you'd do better to buy the soundtrack
Review: I have two problems with this movie. The first is that I found it relatively boring. The only parts where I felt really involved with the movie were when there was music playing, so you might as well just get the soundtrack (which I've done). George Clooney was kind of nice to look at, but I didn't care about the characters. What a waste of John Turturro! Not to mention Holly Hunter.

My second problem is more complicated. As someone from New England who has grown to love the South, I was annoyed by the way accents seemed, in this movie, to be used to show the intelligence of the characters, with the smarter characters having less accent, the less smart ones more, and the downright stupid characters combining their thick thick accents with stuttering, gulping, and bugged-out, rolling eyes. I should say that my friends in the South don't mind any of this, but that's probably because they don't live with this kind of charicature of the South on a daily basis as I do. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive here, and maybe if I'd loved the movie otherwise I wouldn't have noticed it, but for me it cut too close to all the other times I've heard people use southern accents to indicate that someone is stupid, even if that person is actually from New England.